Australia: African problems in Brisbane too

An example of the thanks Australia gets for taking them in as refugees. There are of course much more frequent such examples in Sydney and Melbourne

FOUR Sudanese nationals seriously injured two senior off-duty police officers at a Brisbane football club after having first threatened to rape their wives and children, a jury has been told. A Brisbane District Court jury was told the four also allegedly assaulted the manager of the Southern Districts Rugby Union Club at Annerley about 12.30am on November 24, 2007. Magid Santino Agwaig, 25, Marier Majur Amour, 22, and brothers Doctor Martin and Hakuma Martin Mirich-Teny, 21 and 25, all yesterday pleaded not guilty to two counts each of grievous bodily harm and one of common assault.

Prosecutor Catherine Birkett said off-duty officers Senior-Sergeant David Ewgarde and Inspector Stephen Munro, who is also the football club’s president, were at a Christmas party on the evening of November 23. Ms Birkett said the officers and manager Donald Godfrey had been standing on the clubhouse veranda when they heard loud banging sounds nearby. The court was told Godfrey and Munro went to investigate and found a group of men kicking metal signs.

Ms Birkett said Godfrey and Munro asked the group to desist and move on, but were then subjected to a string of loud expletives and racial slurs. The jury said members of the group made comments such as “you white pieces of s***”, “get back on the boat” and “go back to England”. Ms Birkett said one comment heard was: “We are going to rape your children.”

She said when Godfrey tried to entice them to leave he had liquid, possibly cheap wine, thrown in his eye and was then repeatedly hit. The jury was told both Ewgarde and Munro were then assaulted by one or more of the group. Ms Birkett said Munro later required surgery for several fractures to his eye-socket, while Ewgarde required dental treatment to remove teeth smashed in the alleged attack.

Munro testified he was “king-hit” when he tried to move the youths off the club’s grounds. “The next thing (I know) I am king-hit straight into my right eye,” he said. Munro said he later required 13 stitches for three lacerations around his left eye and required surgery to correct his eye-socket fractures.